Source: G1 (Rio de Janeiro - RJ) - 24/05/2012

According to the IRS, the amount exceeds the total seized in 2011.

Low prices have stimulated cigarette smuggling from Paraguay.

Data released by the Federal Revenue (RF) unit in Cascavel, in western Paraná, point out that in 2012, five million packs of cigarettes were seized in the region, the same amount seized throughout 2011. And the estimate, according to the IRS, is that only 5% of the contraband cigarette is barred in police inspections.

Since the beginning of May, the Brazilian cigarette can only be sold with a price above R $ 3. In contrast, the Paraguayan is sold at just over R $ 1. According to the Federal Revenue Officer, Paulo Bini, the price low has stimulated smuggling. "We estimate a very large increase in contraband itself, due to the change in the price of the tariffs imposed on cigarettes in the country," he says.

According to the Federal Highway Police (PRF), almost every day a cigarette smuggling cart is seized. “It is up to education and repression. Education not only of society that needs not to consume this product, which is a product of terrible quality and which does not raise a penny for public coffers, but also government education. Once he [government] increases the tax, he [government] facilitates the smuggler. It [government] facilitates the increase of the smuggler's profit ”, explains the regional director of the Brazilian Association for Combating Inspection, Luciano Barros.